1) The OL: Cannot understate what having a cohesive senior unit has meant. We’ve gotten PT for some other guys this year, but there’s no understating what losing 60% of our OL will mean. The good news is that given our recruiting lately, this next year will be the one aberration for a long time.
2) The WR’s: Put me in the camp that is concerned, but not THAT concerned. Remember, we went 11-1 in ‘05 when the triplets were all freshmen, AND we’ve gotten some other guys (Zug, Brackett) quality experience this year. We’re still in the running for two stud recruits (Brown/McNeal), so they could see PT right away.
3) The secondary: Area of least concern for me right now. Astorino will not miss a beat, and Wallace has ample experience. Rubin improved during the course of the year, but let’s face facts…he was a glorified “4th LB” most of the time, and struggled against the pass. It’d be nice to see if Sukay ever gets healthy. As for the opposing CB position? That’s more concerning. Timmons has the speed, but if he was that good then wouldn’t he be playing already? Lynn has the star ranking, but hasn’t done anything yet.

Long story short, our defense will keep us in most the games, and we will definitely have the talent to compete. That said, I can see a slight dropoff from this year.

The defense should be fine. The front seven will be nasty. We return Astorino and Wallace in the secondary. The other two guys, whoever they are, will play themselves into shape by the time the conference schedule starts.

Derrick Williams is going to be a huge loss. He’s the one guy we have that keeps defensive coordinators guessing because he can do so much. I’m hoping they can shape a guy like Chaz Powell or Devon Smith into a similar type player.

As great as our wide receivers are, they did have limitations. They weren’t big guys that could outmuscle people for the ball. They had to rely on their speed to get open. Guys like Graham Zug and Brett Brackett have looked good in the limited opportunities they have seen. They run precise routes and have good hands though they may be lacking the top end speed the senior trio have. But I think we’ll be ok there. We also have Derek Moye and a few good freshmen coming in like A.J. Price, Derrick Thomas, and Brandon Felder. And we’re still in the mix for Justin Brown and Bryce McNeal.

The offensive line has me bothered. Wiz will probably move to center. Landolt is solid at right tackle. Deon’tae Pannell is already second string at left tackle so he looks like a three year starter in the making. We’ll need guys like Stankiewitch, J.B. Walton, Lou Elaides, Quinn Barham, Jonnie Troutman, and Mike Farrell to step up. My money is on Elaides and Walton to start.

To think about next year right now. We have over a month the the bowl game, and only other teams to watch. I acknowledge there are some significant losses, but next year’s schedule is ridiculously easy. The O-Line and Secondary are my biggest concerns. The weakness in the secondary should be overcome somewhat by the nastiest front 7 like, ever. There is some talent in waiting on the O-line, but it’s going to take some time to gel. Having an experienced (and really good) QB/RB should help some with that, but yeah that is definitely a concern. As far as the WRs, I guess I’m hoping we can pull a 2005 and get some instant impact guys in. It was good that Zug and Brackett got some significant experience this year. I’m wondering where Moye and AJ Price will fit in.

I just think we’ll be as good or better than pretty much every team on the schedule except for Ohio State (who we get at home later in the year and likely will lose Beanie). Iowa could be tough but we get them at home too. Illinois came back to reality this year and I wonder if Benn will go pro. Michigan is always tough in Ann Arbor, but I have a hard time believing they’re going to improve much next year. Plus we’ve exorcised that demon. Michigan State is recruiting well but loses Ringer and Hoyer so they’ll probably be a year away. So, while the team won’t be as good as this year, it’s possible they could come close to winning as many games.

Fair or not, we’ll probably start off ranked pretty high next year. I think a lot of pollsters will see some of the big names we return in key spots (QB, RB, Maybin, Bowman, Lee) and won’t look as closely at some of the guys we have leaving. I think top 10 is possible, depending on what happens in the bowl game. Definitely if we beat USC.

First of all, your daughter… sounds hot (sorry had to be done)

Second: Yes, the defense looks like we will be verrrrry scary in the front 7 or 8 and I cannot wait to see Lee take all of that invaluable coaching experience with him onto the field… that will only make him that much better

Third: Our recruits not only look very promising, but most will be enrolling in the spring as is the new custom with these high powered recruits so I think we may get some nice surprises out of them

Fourth: Our schedule eats it. We should be able to really put a nice team together and have them mesh nicely as we play what I consider scrimmages in the first few weeks.

There are key players that will be missed but there’s enough talent returning on both sides to be good. Our schedule is also more favorable than this year’s because we don’t have to go to Madison, Iowa, or Columbus. I think we’ll hit double digit wins again next year.